Sheet-feeding apparatus.



o. 873,848. PATENTED DEC. 17, 1907.

A. B. DICK. SHEET FEEDING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 28, 1907- 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

ATTORNEY PATENTED DEG. 1'7, 1907.

A. B. DICK. SHEET FEEDING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 28,1907.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

INVENTOR similar material to such a machine reliably and at substantialspeed.

,upon the surface whereof is placed a waxed pression sheet theimprinting from the paper under the rotary drum and against a UNITEDSTATES- PA onsron.

ALBERT B. DICK, OF LAKE FOREST/ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR- TO A. B. DICKCOMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

SHEET-FEEDING APPARATUS.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT B. DIoK, a citizen of the United States,residing at Lake Forest, in the county of Lake and State of Illinois,have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in SheetFeedingApparatus, of which the following is a s ecification.

This invention is designe particularly for use in connection withprinting machines and the like, and has for its object the provision ofa simple and durable mechanism for successively feeding sheets of paperor Although not limited thereto, the invention is especially ada ted foruse in connection with stencil-prlnting machines of the rotary type, inwhich is employed a drum,

stencil-sheet having openings therein cor-- responding to typecharacters. A printing machine of this type is illustrated in LettersPatent No. 749,984, granted to me January 19, 1904. In machines of thisty e heretofore commonly employed, it has een customary to feed thesheets of impression suitable paper-stop. Due to the rotation of thedrum, such sheet is, when being imprinted uipon, grip ed between theperiphery of the rum and that of an underlying pressure-roller and fedfrom the machine as the sheet is imprinted upon through the stencil.Among the objections due to 'this method of operation, is that theimpression sheet is commonly at rest until its feeding movement iscommenced b reason of the impingement of the stenci sheet thereon. Dueto this, not only is anobjectionable strain thrown upon the delicatestencilsheet, but in addition the first line or lines of the stencil areapt to be blurred. More over, in certain of the machines of the typereferred to, it is a matter of some difliculty to determine at whatpoint upon the imstencil is to be commenced. Again, due to the necessityfor accurately locating the forward edge of the impression sheet beneaththe drum, so that the same may be cry of such drum and that of the unorlying pressure-roller, the operation of feed- Patented Dec.:17, 1907.

ing the sheets is necessarily time-consuming, permitting. the productionof Iewer prints within a given time than are now considered desirable.

In the preferred form in which the present invention has been embodied,I employ a stencil duplicating machine of the type above referred to,including the rotary drum and the underlying pressure-roller adapted tocoact therewith in the production of stencil printed copies, Inconjunction with such drum and roller, I provide an initialfeed deviceactuated by a moving art of the apparatus, such, for example, as t estencilcarryin drum or one of the gears by means whereo suchdrumisoperated. Thisfeed device is of the intermittent variety and theactuating mechanism therefor is of such character as that the moment atwhich said device is set in operation maybe nicely determined withreference to the movement of the stencil-printing drum and therefore ofthe stencil-sheet carried by such drum. Moreover, such device is of suchcharacter as 'to feed the impression sheet forward at practically thesame speed as the surface speed of the stencilcarryin drum; in otherwords, the surface speed 0 the impression sheet and that of thestencil-sheet are substantially the same. Said device comprisesessentially a pair of feed-rolls and means controlled by a moving partof the duplicator, such as the stencil-carrying drum, as aboveindicated, for intermittently operating said rolls so as to feed theimpression sheets successively forward to a point where the same may begripped between the periphery of the stencil-carrying drum and .that ofthe pressure-roller and thence fed from the machine and simultaneouslyimprinted upon. At the moment that the portion of the stencil upon whichhas been cut "the first line of the matter to be duplicated comes intocontact with the impression sheet, both the stencil-sheet and theimpression sheet are traveling at the same speed, thereby removin thepossibility of blurring, which as hereto ore proved objectionable asabove stated; Again, since the means for advancing the impression sheet,to wit, the feed-rolls, are governed as to their effective operation bymeans ofa connection with a moving part of the apparatus, such as thestencil-carrying drum, and since such connection is capable of readyadjustment by the operator, the point upon the impression sheet where itis desired to commence the printed characters may be readily determinedand theneeforth be substantially independent of the opefator and theprecise moment at which the sheets are presented to the feed deviceiDue, also, to such means for adjustment, the point at which the mattercut in the stencil is to be re 'roduced upon the stencil-sheet mayreadily e determined and provided for, quite regardless of the positionupon the stencil-sheet of the type characters formed therein. Such apreferred embodiment of the invention as that above referred to isindicated in the drawings, in which Figure 1 is an elevation, partly insection on the line, 11, Fig. 2, illustrating the invention inconnection with a stencil-duplicator; Fig. 2 is a sectional plan on theline 2 Fig. 1 and looking in the direction of the arrow adjacent to saidline; and Fig. 3 isa section on the line 3 of Fig. 1, looking in thedirection of the arrow adjacent to said line.

Referring to these drawings, A indicates the base of the machine, uponwhich is supported a suitable frame comprising, usually, side members B,between which is pivoted, upon stub-shafts c, the stencil-carrying drum(3 upon the peri hery whereof the stencilsheet is stretched Directlyunderl ing the stencil-carrying drum and operaterf by peripheral contactwith the drum or the 1ntervening impression-sheet, is the pressurerollerD, here shown as journaled, at d, upon arms E hinged at e to the sidemembers of the frame. A spring F tends to exert upward pressure uponsaid pressure-roller. 40 Cams f, mounted upon a shaft f actuated by ahand-piece outside the frame of the machine, operate, when said handpiece is moved to one or the other of its two positions, to move thepressure-roller D to operative or inoperative position, the former ofwhich positions is illustrated in Fig. 1. The mechanism as thus fardescribed forms no part of the present invention.

Turning now to the sheet-feeding apparatus, G, H; designatesheetsfeeding rolls, one .above the other, each'mounted upon a shaft g,h, the ends whereof are mounted in supports I, I, on either side of themachine and adjacent to the side members B of the frame thereof. Theroll G is here shown as formed in sections G, G, such sections beingmount-- ed upon a sleeve g carried by said shaft 9. Said sleeve isloosely mounted upon said shaft and is provided at one end with thepinion g, which engages with a correspond-' mg pinion 72. upon the endof the roll H. That end of the sleeve g opposite the end at which saidpinion g is arranged, is provided with a clutch-member g enacting with asimilar clutch-member g, which, with the crests pinion 9 securedthereto, are lsdyed or pinned to the shaft g. A spring g ten s to forcethe sleeve 9 toward the left (Fig. 2), and therefore to maintain theparts g, g in contact. The pinion g- -meshes with a corresponding pinionL carried by a stub-shaft secured to the support I. Said stub-shaft alsocarries, adjacent to said pinionL, a friction-sheave Z, this beingimmovable relatively to said pinion L. It is apparent that movementtransmitted to the friction-sheave I will, through the pinions L and gtransmit corresponding movement to the,shaft g, and. thence throu h)inions 9 h to the shaft h, to which t e lower feed-roll H is secured.

For the purpose of the present disclosure, and as indicat ng merely. apreferred form, I have-here shown the feed-roll-aetuating device ascarried by the drum C. It com prises a sector M )ivoted upon one of thestub-shafts c and having a serrated edge m adapted to coact with thesurface of the friction-sheave I, said friction-sheave having preferablya periphery of yielding material, such as rubber, felt, or leather. Saidsector is also provided with an elongated slot m through which extends ascrew m the end of which is received in a suitably threaded orifiee inthe adjacent head of the drum.

In Fig. l, the drum is shown as provided with two stencil-securingdevices, one, N, (in dotted lines) for the forward edge of the stencil,and another, N, for the rear edge of the stencil. It is apparent thatthere will be no coaction between 'the stencil-carrying drum and thesheet-feeding device save at v such time during the movement of saiddrum as the serrated edge of the sector M isbrought into contact withthe eri hery of the roll 1, and since such sector lsa justable on saiddrum, the moment of coaction may readily be predetermined and providedfor (by, moving the seetor'relatively to the drum and then clamping it),so as to determine,

with reference-to the moment when the first line of the stencilwill-reach printing osition (over the center of'the ressure-rolfdr), themoment at which the re ls G andH will be set in operation to feed theforward edge of the impression sheet forward and into the gri of thepressure-rollerand drum. The ad ustment of the sector, therefore, willdetermine at what point upon the impression sheet the stencil charactersare to be produced. It will also be ap arent that, due to theconstruction describe and since the im: pression sheet is advanced bythe feeding device at the same rate of s eed as that at which thestencil-sheet trave s, not only does the impression sheet impose. nodrag upon the stencil-sheet in order to continue the movement of theformer through the machine, but also, as incident of this, there is norelative movement of, the stencil-sheet and impression sheet andtherefore no tendency 130 face of the impression-sheet.

P designates a feed-table, upon which the sheet-pile p may be laid, saidtable being provided, as usual, with adjustable guides p for positioningsuch pile. In the present instance, the feed-table is shown as pivotedto the frame at 12 Between such feed-table and the stencil-drum, Iprefer to employ a plate Q secured at its ends to the frame of themachine and provided with a longitudinal slot g directly over the rollH, said roll operating within such slot, its periphery being on a linewith or slightly above the upper surface of said plate. I also prefer toemploy in connection with saidplate a sheet-guide R, here shown assecured to the supports I, I, and arranged obliquely to form awedgeshaped opening into which the sheets may be passed to the rolls G,H. Said uide-plate R is here shown as provided with ers 1' coextensivein size with the sections 5} of the upper feed-roll G and terminatingimmedi- L ately below and slightly rearward of said sec- The operationof the apparatus has heretofore been explained. It remains only to addthat while in the preferred form in which the invention may be embodiedthe feeding device is so arranged as to forward the impression-sheets atthe same speed as that at which the stencil on the rotary drum moves,yet if for any reason the stencil should be found to travel faster thanthe rate at which the impression-sheet is fed, the coaction of the drumand the underlying pressure-roller will pass the sheet through themachine without drag upon such sheet by the feed-rolls G, H, this beingdue to the ratchet or clutch 9 g, heretofore described, which permitsthe roll G (and therefore the roll H in mesh therewith) to be operatednot only by the sector M and. sheave Z but also by the pull of the'impression-sheet.

In the preferred apparatus here described, the sector M is mounted uponthe drum rather than upon another moving part of the apparatus, such,for example, as one of the gears by means of which the drum may beoperated, for the purpose of making the machine more compactandiconducing to the ease with which said sector may be adjusted for thepurpose hereinbefore referred to. It will also be understood, as aboveindicated, that-it is not designed to limit the use of the feedapparatus herein described to a stencil-, duplicating machine, as thesame may be employed to advantage in machines of another and differenttype, particularly such as employ a type-form and platen (the lattereither rotary or reciprocating) for effecting the imprints upon theimpression-sheets.

Having now described my invention, what I cl aim as new therein anddesire to secure by Letters Patent is'as follows 1. The combination witha printing-drumand an underlying pressure-roller, of two feed-rolls invertical alinement and injuxtaposition to the point of coaction of saiddrum and roller, saidrolls being connected for simultaneous operation tofeed an impressionsheet direct to said drum and roller. and atsubstantially the same speed as that of said drum and roller, afriction-sheave connected with one of said rolls, a clutch between therolls and said sheave, and an adjustable sector carried by a moving partof the apparatus and having a curved periphery cooperatingintermittently with said sheave, substantially, as described.

2. The combination with a printing-drum and an underlying pressure-r0er, of a sector pivoted upon and movable-with said drum and having anelongated slot concentric with its pivot, and sector-securing meanscooperating with said slot and said drum, feed-rolls mounted in fixedbearings and connected for simultaneous operation, and meansintermediate of said feed-rolls and'said sector, and

cooperating with both, whereby the movement of said sectorsimultaneously with said drum will transmit corresponding, butintermittent, feeding movement to said feed-rolls, substantially asdescribed 3. The combination with two feed-rolls, connected forsimultaneous operation, one of said rolls having a plurality ofseparated rollsections, and means for imparting movement to said rolls,of a plate having an opening therein through which the periphery of oneofsaid rolls protrudes, and a guide located over said plate and at anangle thereto, said guide having fingers along one edge thereofterminating adjacent to the point of coaction of said rolls-,and injuxtaposition to said sec tions upon one of said rolls, substantially asset forth.

4:. The combination with a printing-drum and a cooperatingpressure-roller, of two feed-rolls in juxtaposition to the point ofcoaction of the drum and roller, gearing between said rolls, afriction-sheave, a connection between said sheave and oneof said rollswhereby the sheave drives the rolls, a clutch in said connection, and anadjustable sector carried by said drum and having a curved peripherycooperating intermittently with said sheave, substantially as described.

5. The combination with a and a cooperating pressure-r01 er, of a sectorpivoted upon and movable with the drum and having an elongated slotconcentric with its ivot, sector securing means cooperating wit saidslot and said drum, a pair of feedrolls, gearing between said rolls, africtionprinting-dr'um I sheave mounted in position to cooperate withThis specification signed and witnessm sail secgonfiicolilnecgionloetween said shaafie this 25th day of May,- 1907. i

an sai r0 s W ere y t e movement 0 t e sector simultaneously with saiddrum trans- I ALBERT DICK mits correspondin but intermittent feedingWitnesses:

movement to the eed-rolls and a clutch in 1 R. R HARRINGTON --sa1dconnection, substantiaily as described- M. H. BURKART.

